Circular Polarizer

I recently purchased a circular polarizer for my camera (Hama Circular Polarizer Filter 55mm) and it's great.
You've seen all those photos on magazines with lovely blue skies, you've probably wondered how they managed to do it. This is where the polarizer comes in, it darkens blue skies turning them a lovely deep, rich blue.
Polarizers are also great with greenary, making leaves less shiny by removing the reflections.

They are also great for removing reflections in water. If for instance you were shooting a river scene and you wanted to see the river bottom, a polarizer will allow you to do this. It does this by removing the reflections in the water.

Even if you are not shooting in any of these situations polarizers will enhance the colour saturation with almost any subject making the colours looking more intense. Polarizers are the second most used filters simply because the effects they create can not be replicated digitaly yet.

You are probably now thinking 'I bet this mother of all filters is really expensive'.
But it is not, I bought mine for just £20. Here is the filter i bought a Hama Circular Polarizer Filter 55mm. It did everything I hoped it would do (everything above) and the cherry on the icing was that it was £10 cheaper than Jessops own brand and £20 cheaper than the same one in Jessops.

Some other Circular Polarizers.

More info on Polarizers

Liverpool Albert Dock

A photo of Liverpool Albert Dock in the day. I took this nearly as soon as i arrived at The Albert Docks.


This is a photo of the Beatles Story Liverpool Logo. The Beatles Story is located just outside the main entrance to the Albert Dock. I took this a night on the way back to the car. I love how it is illuminated up against the night sky.

A photo of the Beatles Yellow Submarine. This yellow submarine is on the wall not that far away from the Beatles Story logo above. I took this on my way into the Albert Dock.

More info on The Albert Dock

For even more info on The Liverpool Albert Dock you can purchase the paperback guide to the docks. The Liverpool Albert Dock


Update

As I found out from the commentor below sadly the Beatles Yellow Submarine outside the Beatles Story building has been stolen since I took this photograph. More info about the stolen Yellow Submarine

Update 2
Here is a webcam looking out towards the city centre from the Albert Dock.
Liverpool Albert Dock Webcam

Lycian Tombs

This is a photo of the Lycian Tombs in Turkey. I was on a boat tour around Lycia a mountainous region along the coast of south-western Turkey. I took this photo on a moving boat on a boat tour around Lycia. These are examples of Lycian rock tombs, these belonged to wealthy Lycians, they are finely worked with elaborate relief carving. Unlike the tombs of the poor and less wealthy which are plain and without relief carving. Most of these rock cut tombs hold more than one body because they were are so large. The entrances are sealed with a sliding stone door that run sideways along a groove to keep the dead in peace and to prevent people from taking their valuables in their tomb.
More info on the Lycian Tombs.

Results Of : What Format Do You Shoot With

Last place was both JPEG and Raw.
Third was neither with 10% of the votes.(Presumably TIFF)
Second was Jpeg with 40% of the votes.
And first was Raw with 50% of the votes.

Thank you everyone that voted. I will surprise you by saying that I shoot JPEG though I am not entirely sure why. I think it is because RAW requires slightly more processing.As a consequence of this poll I have decided this week to take a stab at shooting in RAW and I will post my results sometime next week.

Update

I now permanently photograph in RAW and I can not recommend it enough. Yes it does require some extra processing time but it is most definitely worth it. Furthermore, the ability to make non-destructive adjustments like exposure.

Promote Your Photos For Free

If you would like to promote your photos, yourself and have them showcased on Photo Fingers why not add them to the Photo Fingers Flickr Group pool? If you don't have a flickr account email them to me sbunting108@rocketmail.com. Just attach the image and the link you would like me to post.
I will showcase the photos on Photo Fingers in a blog post and give a link to your website and your profile. These links to your website will be in the post and in the RSS feed. This is a great opportunity to promote yourself and your photos.

Photo Fingers Flickr Group.

Shakespeares Home Town

These were taken two years ago when i visited Stratford-upon-Avon.


This is a photo of Mary Ardens cottage who was mother of William Shakespeare.
More info on the house http://www.stratford.co.uk/prop5.asp


I think this is a photo of Anne Hatherways cottage. She was the wife of William Shakesphere. They got married in 1582 and she became a widow in 1616 when William Shakesphere died.
More info on Anne Hatherway http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Hathaway_(Shakespeare)

Shrewsbury Abbey

Yesterday i decided to visit Shrewsbury Abbey one of the most popular places in Shrewsbury. Yet i never seem to have a look around it. Its not that far from my house at all.

A photo of the front of the Abbey. As you can probably tell by the sky i took this one some time before the others because there was too many cars on the road yesterday.

This picture of the south side of the Abbey showing how one of the wings was literally demolished by Thomas Telford because he wanted to build a road through there in 1836(London to Holyhead). You can see abit of the road in the photo above. More info on Thomas Telford.


A photo round the back of the Abbey showing the remains of the medieval north transept.

A close up of the arches that you can see in the second photo.


Another photo round the back of the Abbey. (remains of north transect)

More info on Shrewsbury Abbey

Even more info on Shrewsbury Abbey

Shrewsbury Graffiti

A picture of a shop on Shrewsbury Pride Hill decorated with posters showing a Shrewsbury Town football supporter and a football boot. The colours are roughly the same as the Shrewsbury Town football kit, blue and yellow. The owners did this because Shrewsbury Town Football Club are in the play off finals in League 2 and are going to play at Wembly on saturday the 23rd of May.
COME ON YOU BLUES!!!!!

Shrewsbury Town Centre

One of the two shopping centres in shrewsbury town centre.

A statue of Robert Clive.

Pride hill the main shopping street in shrewsbury.

Shrewsburys Old Market Hall.

Shrewsbury square showing the Robert Clive statue and the Old Market Hall.

Everyday Abstract Subjects

The other day i was reading this months Practical Photography magazine and it had a article on creating fantastic abstract images with just a pack of straws. This article inspired to have a go at taking some abstract images of everyday objects all around us.



A picture of some cocktail umbrellas I found in our drinks cupboard.




A picture of a piece of pottery in our dining room. To create this affect I did a zoom burst.

Stapely Water Gardens

Last weekend I decided to go to Stapely Water Gardens to try to find a water feature to buy. It was a good afternoon out. Here are some pictures of the sculptures around the gardens.





This is my favourite photo.